Korean Compound Vowels: All 11 with Pronunciation Tips

① What compound vowels (diphthongs) are

Korean has 10 basic vowels (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ) and 11 compound vowels built from them. Most of them are diphthongs (gliding sounds like wa and wo), but ㅐ and ㅔ are pronounced as single vowels.

Example: ㅗ (o) + ㅏ (a) = ㅘ (wa)

② Korean compound vowels chart: all 11

Vowel	Built from	Sounds like	Example	Meaning
ㅐ	ㅏ + ㅣ	e (as in "bed")	개	dog
ㅒ	ㅑ + ㅣ	ye (as in "yes")	얘기	talk, story
ㅔ	ㅓ + ㅣ	e (as in "bed")	게	crab
ㅖ	ㅕ + ㅣ	ye	시계	clock
ㅘ	ㅗ + ㅏ	wa	사과	apple
ㅙ	ㅗ + ㅐ	we (as in "wet")	왜	why
ㅚ	ㅗ + ㅣ	we	회사	company
ㅝ	ㅜ + ㅓ	wo (as in "wonder")	뭐	what
ㅞ	ㅜ + ㅔ	we	웨이터	waiter
ㅟ	ㅜ + ㅣ	wi (as in "we")	귀	ear
ㅢ	ㅡ + ㅣ	ui (see ④)	의사	doctor

Note: after consonants other than ㅇ and ㄹ, ㅖ is often pronounced like plain "e" (시계 → si-ge).

③ Remember them by their parts

Adding ㅣ: ㅐ (ㅏ+ㅣ), ㅔ (ㅓ+ㅣ), ㅒ, ㅖ, ㅚ, ㅟ, ㅢ
Starting with ㅗ (the “w” sound): ㅘ (ㅗ+ㅏ = wa), ㅙ (ㅗ+ㅐ = we), ㅚ
Starting with ㅜ: ㅝ (ㅜ+ㅓ = wo), ㅞ (ㅜ+ㅔ = we), ㅟ (ㅜ+ㅣ = wi)

Think of it as gliding quickly from the first vowel into the second — that’s how ㅘ and ㅝ come out naturally.

④ Vowels that sound alike

Group	Pronunciation	How to tell them apart
ㅐ and ㅔ	In modern Korean, both are pronounced almost identically, like "e"	They're still spelled differently: learn each word's spelling (개 dog, 게 crab)
ㅒ and ㅖ	Both "ye"	Same as above
ㅙ, ㅚ, ㅞ	All close to "we"	Same as above: 왜 (why), 회사 (company), 웨이터 (waiter)
ㅢ	Changes with position	At the start of a word: "ui" (의사). After a consonant or later in a word: "i" (희망 → hi-mang, 회의 → hoe-i). As the particle 의 ("of"), often "e"

For reading and spelling, focus on learning each word’s spelling first rather than trying to hear every difference.

⑤ Example words

Word	Pronounced	Meaning
사과	sa-gwa	apple
회사	hoe-sa	company
뭐	mwo	what
귀	gwi	ear
의자	ui-ja	chair
시계	si-gye (often si-ge)	clock

Romanization follows the spelling (ㅚ = oe, ㅖ = ye), even where the sound is closer to “we” or “e”.